Stephen Minger

Just got round to listening to a podcast by Dr Minger on his career. Inspirational. But why is it inspirational? Because – leaving aside the qulity of the work he leads here at King’s it is all so accessible. Here is someone who bumbled about a bit as a young adult – as most people do – and slowly focused his energies and values and intellect -  a bit of luck, a mass of talent, an even bigger mass of discipline and dedication. We all get a bit cynical about institutions we work in, but if Stephen Minger works here – its got to be a great place to be. He had some interesting coments about talking to the media and standing up for Science – his area is viewed by some as  ’controversial’ – so he feels its important to explain it to people. I am sorry to have to say it, but he has become a bit of a hero for me.

I discover the Social Research Association

How did I not know about the Social Research Association? Last night they put on a really good Careers Evening with speakers from NatCen, UCL and the Information Centre for Health and Social Care.

I recognised at least 2 current King’s PhD students in the audience – but there may have been more. It took place at the splendid offices of GfK (better known as NOP) We were on the top floor on Blackfriars Road – overlooking the thames and with a staggeringly beuatiful view of London on a summer evening – the grey edifices looking diditnguished in their sunlit grey – not drab as is sometimes the case.

I learned that Assocaition has a good job site.

Most people at the seminar seemed to be at Masters level – some already working in the field, some just completing courses.

 

www.the-sra.org.uk

Looking back over recent vacancies the head of the Association said that employers on the whole did not specify what Social Science discipline they wanted. They often asked for a mix of qual and quant experience (Quol and Quont is the accepted argot in the profession as i gathered). They wanted good report writing and presentation skills and evidence of stake-holder and customer relations.

2 researchers (1 qual , 1 quant form research giant NatCen spoke. The qual started her caree as a volunteer on an oral history project before spending 2 years with IPPR. The quant had done  a politics degree (so not a quant degree) and had started as a researcher for an MP. NatCen has 360 staff of whom half are researchers – 115 on the quant side, 31 on the qual. Specualtive applications were welcome

Alison, from Government social Resarch commented that in Government you tended to move between projects – so you got variety, at the expense of being able to specialise. Jobs in this sector were plentiful at the moment – evidence based policy making relies on the gathering of lots of ‘evidence’.

Cath from UCL explained about the career path of acadmic social researchers and the necessity to ’switch’ to the academic track because you became an expensive ‘weight’ on research bids as your salary increases. The publish or perish issue. In her group looking at sexual behaviour / health only 3 of the group of 20 were on permanent contracts.

Bottom line – great website for jobs- including entry level jobs.

Law PhD’s and legal training

Question from a Careers adviser

I have been asked what the chances are for PhD students (both law and other subjects) of developing a legal career either qualifying as a solicitor or a barrister.

 Do you know of any law firms/chambers which are keen to recruit people with this type of background? From the PhD students point of view they will  clearly want that their academic studies are seen as an advantage. There are some very high powered bodies such as the Law Commission and I think some opportunities in Europe where this will be the case and I also need to find out more about these. In continental Europe and Scandinavia you need to study law for longer at to a higher academic level before you can start practising as a trainee lawyer and in the US the education requirements are higher than here too.

Answer

I have met a number of King’s PhD students who have gone on to do legal training – often with a view to specialising in IP issues. However I feel that the PhD is viewed neutrally. It suggests an ability to handle complex data and to test assertions rigorously. On the other hand it may be felt to promote a leisurely approach to problem solving at variance with the cut and thrust of legal dispute and litigation. I have no experience of Law PhD’s going on to legal training. Most people I have seen come from the other direction – from professional practice to academic research.

Interesting Job description – but what job?

You’ll be working with a wide range of electronic information to identify and interpret trends, patterns and associations in the data. This type of analytical work requires the ability to understand and capture the essence of complex problems. To carry it out, you will be using a range of software tools to develop innovative and effective solutions. You will also undertake a range of projects working with colleagues from different departments, and work alongside other organisations to help develop our data sources, analysis tools and techniques.

Whether you have worked with data sets in your academic career, IT or finance sectors, market, social or scientific research, you’ll bring experience of working with analytical and/or statistical packages and large electronic and hard copy data sets. The accuracy and effectiveness with which Analysts present their results will have a major impact on investigations and you will be confident communicating your findings to a wide range of audiences. Given the nature of the role it is essential that you are comfortable working with computers for long periods and handling large quantities of data.

 

What job? Intelligence analyst for MI5.

Psychometric Testing

Friday was psychometric testing day. Its never been very popular – and today, true to form, 4 students. They get a battery of 3 tests and are scored and normed against a population of UK undergrad and postgrad students.

What surprised is how positive the students were about the whole experience. They thought that it should be made compulsory! I think they liked the inherent drama of the timed test which is very difficult to  finish.

I explained that for most firms this kind of test was increasingly done on-line, although it is quite common for candidates who do well enough to be invited for a selection centre to be re-tested to see if it was actually them who did the test not their much cleverer friend. Identity fraud being all too easy in the cyber-world.

How to succeed in your PhD

Tips from a PhD graduate: how to do well

• Take Initiatives
• Find your way around obstacles
• Get along with your research group
• Know how the ’system’ works
• Get things done

These are common to success in industry and the professions.

Academia is a business and ‘PhD student is a job title.

Don’t expect micro-management

Be tenacious: develop a thick skin.

Do something every day to get you nearer to finishing your dissertation.

Be flexible: you are at the bottom of the hierarchy.

I have more of these bons mots scribbled on sheets. i will blog them when I find them – and credit the author!

Sessions

2 sessions yesterday, one to a group of Health Service Researchers at IOP, one to students as part of the Researcher Development Programme.

Total turn-out: 6 students – thats for both sessions.

I actually had something intesting to say. In one I had been asked to talk about about ‘big picture’ Career Managment issue, in the other I was trialling my new material on CV writing.

We never get large groups here in the summer term – even though with PhD’s there are no exams to distract. I have just read an article on the threats to face to face teaching in universities now – diminished contact time. We are trying to increase it and not really getting any where it seems.

In one session, 8 students had said they would come, in the CV workshop 5. So the other issue is students who commit to come and then do not. Ho-hum.

Postdoc talk

Had Professor Morris address a small group of PhD students last night.  He focused on some big picture issues about careers in Science – the knife edge between success and failure. For him the career scientist is always asking questions and that is what distinguishes the person who is going to like the career. The students quizzed Roger on whether an industrial career  was inferior (No), how did you know whether you were ‘good’, what could you do if you did not manage to publish any papers, what if your project was ’scooped’ by a publication – this had happened to one student in the room.

Roger gave a very personal account of his career and spoke in favour of ‘diversifying’ in the choice of postdocs. But my question was why did so few students turn up to such a fascinating presentation?

MBTI results

Response of PhD student to MBTI profile. Staggered at the accuracy.

Hi Terry, Thanks very much for the useful discussion on the MBTI results, I feel- and was almost amazed by its accuracy at doing so, that it provided a picture of my strengths and weaknesses. I hope to go on to investigate it further and build on these results. Kind Regards,

7 Habits of Highly Effective people

i refer to this famous book a lot in my PhD training sessions. I discovered this today as I set myseef a reading task  (- only one client booked in to see me)

“This work is a synergistic product of many minds. It began in the middle seventies as I was reviewing 200 years of success literature as part of a doctoral programme.”

So – it all started in a litersture review!